The Alliance is successfully competing with much larger automakers but its future is threatened.
In the latest twist of what appears to be manipulated fate by the Japanese Criminal Injustice system in AutoInformed’s View, came today after a Tokyo court rejected prosecutors’ request to extend detention of Carlos Ghosn, ex-CEO of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
Prosecutors then re-arrested Ghosn on new charges in a sordid tale that goes back to Ghosn’s first arrest on 19 November 2018. Ghosn could now be in a tiny jail cell for another 10 days or more, where he has been locked up since last month on initial allegations of financial misconduct.
The Tokyo prosecutor claimed that the latest arrest was based on worries that around October 2008, Ghosn moved personal trades to Nissan to make it responsible for 1.85 billion yen (~$16.6 million) in appraisal losses, and hurt Nissan by having it deposit a total of $14.7 million on four occasions between June 2009 and March 2012 into a related bank account.
This in AutoInformed’s view would be laughable except there is a human being involved, albeit a Gaijin 外人, who has been subjected to interrogations for up to eight hours a day without his lawyer being present.
Likewise, on Friday, Reuters reported that the Tokyo court in a statement claimed that the lawyer for Ghosn’s former deputy Greg Kelly, who was arrested along with Ghosn, has requested his client’s release. Kelly’s detention extension was rejected along with Ghosn’s.
Yoichi Kitamura, told Reuters that Kelly “was unlikely to be released before Tuesday because there was not enough time to complete procedures, including the payment of any bail that might be set.”
This came hours after Ghosn, through his lawyer and quoted by Japanese public broadcaster NHK, promised to restore his good name in court and to hold a news conference after his release.
“Things as they stand are absolutely unacceptable,” Ghosn was represented as saying. “I want to have my position heard and restore my honor in court.”
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Japanese Scrooges Run Amok as Carlos Ghosn Re-Arrested. Christmas Locked Up for the Gaijin!
The Alliance is successfully competing with much larger automakers but its future is threatened.
In the latest twist of what appears to be manipulated fate by the Japanese Criminal Injustice system in AutoInformed’s View, came today after a Tokyo court rejected prosecutors’ request to extend detention of Carlos Ghosn, ex-CEO of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
Prosecutors then re-arrested Ghosn on new charges in a sordid tale that goes back to Ghosn’s first arrest on 19 November 2018. Ghosn could now be in a tiny jail cell for another 10 days or more, where he has been locked up since last month on initial allegations of financial misconduct.
The Tokyo prosecutor claimed that the latest arrest was based on worries that around October 2008, Ghosn moved personal trades to Nissan to make it responsible for 1.85 billion yen (~$16.6 million) in appraisal losses, and hurt Nissan by having it deposit a total of $14.7 million on four occasions between June 2009 and March 2012 into a related bank account.
This in AutoInformed’s view would be laughable except there is a human being involved, albeit a Gaijin 外人, who has been subjected to interrogations for up to eight hours a day without his lawyer being present.
Likewise, on Friday, Reuters reported that the Tokyo court in a statement claimed that the lawyer for Ghosn’s former deputy Greg Kelly, who was arrested along with Ghosn, has requested his client’s release. Kelly’s detention extension was rejected along with Ghosn’s.
Yoichi Kitamura, told Reuters that Kelly “was unlikely to be released before Tuesday because there was not enough time to complete procedures, including the payment of any bail that might be set.”
This came hours after Ghosn, through his lawyer and quoted by Japanese public broadcaster NHK, promised to restore his good name in court and to hold a news conference after his release.
“Things as they stand are absolutely unacceptable,” Ghosn was represented as saying. “I want to have my position heard and restore my honor in court.”
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.